Client steering for a wireless local area network

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods for operating a wireless access point (WAP) selected communication channel on a wireless local area network (WLAN). An example implementation includes accessing current proximity metrics for a given wireless device within a proximity distance of a wireless access point (WAP), analyzing the current proximity metrics in view of historical proximity records to predict a probability for future proximity states based on dwell time of the historical proximity records, and selecting a communication option for the wireless device based on the future proximity state with a highest probability for a criterion.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit as a continuation of prior filedco-pending U.S. application Ser. No. 15/409,527 filed on Jan. 18, 2017entitled “Client Steering for a Wireless Local Area Network” whichclaims priority to prior filed U.S. Provisional Application No.62/279,883 filed on Jan. 18, 2016 entitled “Cloud Client Steering” whichis incorporated herein by reference in its entirety as if fully setforth herein.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of Invention

The field of the present invention relates in general to wireless localarea networks including wireless access points (WAP) and wirelessstations and steering methods therefore.

2. Description of the Related Art

Home and office networks, a.k.a. wireless local area networks (WLAN) areestablished using a device called a Wireless Access Point (WAP). The WAPmay include a router. The WAP wirelessly couples all the devices of thehome network, e.g. wireless stations such as: computers, printers,televisions, digital video (DVD) players, security cameras and smokedetectors to one another and to the Cable or Subscriber Line throughwhich Internet, video, and television is delivered to the home. MostWAPs implement the IEEE 802.11 standard which is a contention basedstandard for handling communications among multiple competing devicesfor a shared wireless communication medium on a selected one of aplurality of communication channels. The frequency range of eachcommunication channel is specified in the corresponding one of the IEEE802.11 protocols being implemented, e.g. “a”, “b”, “g”, “n”, “ac”, “ad”.Communications follow a hub and spoke model with a WAP at the hub andthe spokes corresponding to the wireless links to each ‘client’ device.

After selection of a single communication channel for the associatedhome network, access to the shared communication channel relies on amultiple access methodology identified as Carrier Sense Multiple Access(CSMA). CSMA is a distributed random access methodology for sharing asingle communication medium, by having a contending communication linkback off and retry access a prospective collision on the wireless mediumis detected, i.e. if the wireless medium is in use.

Communications on the single communication medium are identified as“simplex” meaning, one communication stream from a single source node toone or more target nodes at one time, with all remaining nodes capableof “listening” to the subject transmission. Starting with the IEEE802.11ac standard and specifically ‘Wave 2’ thereof, discretecommunications to more than one target node at the same time may takeplace using what is called Multi-User (MU) multiple-inputmultiple-output (MIMO) capability of the WAP. MU capabilities were addedto the standard to enable the WAP to communicate with multiple singleantenna single stream devices concurrently, thereby increasing the timeavailable for discrete MIMO video links to wireless HDTVs, computerstablets and other high throughput wireless devices the communicationcapabilities of which rival those of the WAP. The IEEE 802.11ax standardintegrates orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) intothe WAP or stations capabilities. OFDMA allows a WAP to communicateconcurrently on a downlink with multiple stations, on discrete frequencyranges, identified as resource units.

Increasingly dense deployments of WAP's and stations make new demands onthe wireless local area network (WLAN). What is needed are improvedmethods for wireless communication between the WAP and its associatedstations on the WLAN.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a method and apparatus for a wirelessaccess point (WAP), individually or collectively with other WAPs toenhance wireless operations and in particular client steering.

In an embodiment of the invention a wireless access point (WAP) isconfigured to support wireless communications with associated stationson at least one selected wireless communication channel on a wirelesslocal area network (WLAN). The WAP includes a plurality of transmit andreceive components, a non-volatile memory, a proximity circuit, aconnectivity circuit, and a prediction circuit. The plurality ofcomponents couple to one another to form transmit and receive paths forprocessing wireless communications on the at least one selected wirelesscommunication channel. The non-volatile memory accumulates historicalrecords of each station's proximity to the WAP including transitions inproximity over time along with corresponding connectivity options beforeand after each transition. The proximity circuit detects a transition inproximity to the WAP of an identified station. The connectivity circuitdetermines current connectivity options for communicating with thestation identified by the proximity circuit. The prediction circuitcouples to the plurality of components, and correlates the accumulatedhistorical records for the identified station which match the identifiedstation's current proximity to the WAP with remaining historical recordsfor the identified station to determine which of the remaining recordsexhibits the highest probability of predicting the identified station'ssubsequent proximity, and the predicted connectivity options associatedtherewith; and the prediction circuit selects connectivity options forthe plurality of components to establish a communication link with theidentified station utilizing a selected one of the predictedconnectivity options, rather than the current connectivity optionsdetermined by the connectivity circuit, when the correspondingprobability identified therefore, exceeds a threshold level.

The invention may be implemented in hardware, firmware, circuits orsoftware.

Associated methods are also claimed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other features and advantages of the present invention willbecome more apparent to those skilled in the art from the followingdetailed description in conjunction with the appended drawings in which:

FIGS. 1A-C are respectively system views and a proximity graph of a homewith a prior art wireless local area networks (WLAN) in which wirelessconnectivity determinations are made in accordance with prior artpractices;

FIGS. 2A-D are respectively a system view, a data structure diagram, anda pair of signal graphs, in which wireless connectivity determinationsare made in accordance with an embodiment of the current invention.

FIGS. 3A-D are respectively a system view, a data structure diagram, anda pair of signal graphs, in which wireless connectivity determinationsare made in accordance with an alternative embodiment of the currentinvention.

FIGS. 4A-B are system views of an alternate embodiment of the inventionin which wireless connectivity determinations between multiple WLAN aremade with shared temporal proximity data;

FIGS. 5A-D are hardware block diagrams of embodiments of respectivelythe WAP and proximity, dwell time, and prediction circuits of the clientsteering circuit which is part of the WAP. The WAP may have one or moreantenna.

FIGS. 6A-C are hardware block diagrams of various devices configured toexecute client steering within or between neighboring WLANs inaccordance with various embodiments of the current invention.

FIG. 7 is a process flow diagram of processes associated with clientsteering in accordance with an embodiment of the current invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

FIGS. 1A-C are respectively system views and a proximity graph of a homewith a prior art wireless local area networks (WLAN) in which wirelessconnectivity determinations are made in accordance with prior artpractices.

FIG. 1A is a plan view of a home 100A in which a wireless access point(WAP) 102 and an associated station 110 are shown. When the station 110is near to the WAP in the kitchen at location A the WAP uses the higherthroughput 5 GHz band and an 80 MHz communication channel to establish acommunication link 108A with the mobile station. When the station 110moves to the living room to location B, distant from the WAP, the WAPuses the longer reach of the 2.4 GHz band and an 80 MHz communicationchannel to establish a communication link 108B with the mobile station110. The change in communication band requires additional overhead inwhich all communications on the corresponding wireless local areanetwork (WLAN) are interrupted until the band change is signaled by theWAP to the station(s).

FIG. 1B is a plan view of a home 100B in which the WAP 102 andassociated station 110 are shown. When the station 110 is near to theWAP in the kitchen at location A the WAP uses the higher throughput 5GHz band and an 80 MHz communication channel to establish acommunication link 108A with the mobile station. When the station 110moves to the living room, at location B distant from the WAP, the WAPuses the longer reach of the 2.4 GHz band and an 80 MHz communicationchannel to establish a communication link 108B with the mobile station110. Alternately, the mobile station at location B may establish acommunication link 108C directly with the the repeater 104. When thestation 110 moves to the bedroom room, at location C more distant fromthe WAP, the WAP may no longer have the reach to communicate with thestation so the station established a communication link 108D directlywith the repeator 104. The change in communication band or change inassociation between WAP and repeator requires still more additionaloverhead in which all communications on the corresponding wireless localarea network (WLAN) are interrupted until the band change or associationchange is effectuated on the WLAN.

FIG. 1C is a proximity graph for mobile station 110 showing thereconnection overhead 122A-C associated with establishing links 108A-D.

FIGS. 2A-D are respectively a system view, a data structure diagram, anda pair of signal graphs, in which wireless connectivity determinationsare made in accordance with an embodiment of the current invention.

FIG. 2A shows home 200 in plan view with a WLAN formed by WAP 202 andmobile station 110. Communication links 208A-C between the WAP and thestation 110 at each of locations A, B1 and B2 are shown.

FIG. 2B is a signal graph showing a solid staircase line correspondingwith the RSSI of the mobile station as measured by the WAP 202 atdifferent times of day, during the weekdays as well as network activity230A and network overhead 232A and the proximity transition points inmeasured RSSI 234A-D as the station moves through the home. Because ofthe limited use of the kitchen during weekdays as indicated in thecorresponding historical proximity records for the mobile station asshown in FIG. 2B and specifically in proximity table 220 at rows 222A-Donly one of the proximity transitions 234A-D results in a correspondingspike in WLAN overhead at 6 pm, civilian time, in the evening when thehomeowner enters the home. This contrasts with the prior art case inwhich multiple spontaneous connectivity transitions would be expected.

FIG. 2C is a signal graph showing a solid staircase line correspondingwith the RSSI of the mobile station as measured by the WAP 202 atdifferent times of day, during the weekends as well as network activity230B and network overhead 232B-D and the proximity transition points inmeasured RSSI 234E-G as the station moves through the home on theweekend. Because of the extended dwell time of the homeowner in thekitchen on weekends as indicated in the corresponding historicalproximity records for the mobile station as shown in proximity table 220in FIG. 2B at rows 222E-G multiple spikes in overhead at three of thefour proximity transitions 234E-H are required to accommodate thehomeowner's communication requirements.

FIGS. 3A-D are respectively a system view, a data structure diagram, anda pair of signal graphs, in which wireless connectivity determinationsare made in accordance with an alternative embodiment of the currentinvention.

FIG. 3A shows home 300 in plan view with a WLAN formed by WAP 202 andmobile station 110. Communication links 108A-D between the WAP or therepeater 204 and the station 110 at each of locations A, B and C areshown.

FIG. 3CB is a signal graph showing a solid staircase line correspondingwith the RSSI of the mobile station as measured by the WAP 202 atdifferent times of day, during the weekdays as well as network activity330A and network overhead 332A and the proximity transition points inmeasured RSSI 334A-F as the station moves through the home. The dashedstaircase line corresponds to the RSSI of the station 100 as seen by therepeater. Because of the limited use of the kitchen during weekdays asindicated in the corresponding historical proximity records for themobile station as shown in FIG. 3B and specifically in proximity table320 at rows 322A-D only one of the proximity transitions 334A-F resultsin a corresponding spike in WLAN overhead at 6 pm, civilian time, in theevening when the homeowner enters the home. This contrasts with theprior art case in which multiple spontaneous connectivity transitionswould be expected. Weekday communication with the mobile station ishandled by the repeator 204 which is close to the rooms in which thesubscriber spends their weekday time.

FIG. 3C is a signal graph showing a solid staircase line correspondingwith the RSSI of the mobile station as measured by the WAP 202 atdifferent times of day, during the weekends as well as network activity330B and network overhead 332B-D and the proximity transition points inmeasured RSSI 334G-L as the station moves through the home on theweekend. Because of the extended dwell time of the homeowner in thekitchen on weekends as indicated in the corresponding historicalproximity records for the mobile station as shown in proximity table 320in FIG. 3B at rows 322E-G multiple spikes in overhead at three of thesix proximity transitions 334G-L are required to accommodate thehomeowner's communication requirements.

FIGS. 4A-B are system views of an alternate embodiment of the inventionin which wireless connectivity determinations between multiple WLAN aremade with shared temporal proximity data.

FIG. 4A shows a plan view of an office between 7 am and 11:45 am in themorning. The Office includes an enterprise WLAN formed by WAPs 402, 404,406, and 408. Mobile stations, e.g. station 110 and station 112 areshown along with the proximity path they follow during the morning,characterized by quick transition through the break room to reach acorresponding one of the offices in the back of the building. Each WAPaccumulates proximity records for each station, which are aggregated andcorrelated by the “cloud” 418, and specifically by a telco or ISP, whichhas a remote server capable of client steering of the connectivitybetween the mobile stations and the WAP's based on the predicted clientbehavior exhibited by proximity records 422-428. The predicted quicktransit through the break room at this time of day, as indicated in theproximity records, is used by the remote server, to avoid association ofthe clients/stations with the WAP 404 in the break room in the morning,thus avoiding unnecessary spikes in network overhead resulting fromspontaneous association and disassociation from WAP 404 at this time ofday.

FIG. 4B shows a plan view of the office 400 between 12 pm and 1 pmduring lunch time. The predicted long dwell times, e.g. 1 hour, in thebreak room at this time of day coupled with the high occupancy, asindicated in the proximity records, is used by the remote server, toanticipate the flood of association requests by the clients/stationswith the WAP 404 in the break room at lunch time.

FIGS. 5A-D are hardware block diagrams of embodiments of respectivelythe WAP and proximity, dwell time, and prediction circuits of the clientsteering circuit which is part of the WAP. The WAP may have one or moreantenna. The WAP 402 is shown with a MIMO pair of antenna 559A-B forsupporting a wireless local area network (WLAN) which providesassociated stations, access to the Internet 502. In an embodiment of theinvention the WAP provides the client steering functions on its own. Inan embodiment of the invention the WAP is also communicatively coupled,via the shared broadband connection, to the remote cloud 418 andspecifically to the remote server provided by the ISP or Telco 419 whichhandles portions of the client steering functions.

The WAP in this embodiment of the invention is identified as a 2×2multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) WAP supporting as many as 2discrete communication streams over two antennas 559A-B. The WAP couplesto the Internet 502 via an integral Ethernet medium access control(EMAC) interface 519 over a cable, fiber, or digital subscriber line(DSL) backbone connection. A packet bus 518 couples the EMAC to the MIMOWiFi baseband 526, and AFE-RF stages 528.

In the baseband portion 526 wireless communications transmitted to orreceived from each user/station are processed. The baseband portion isdynamically configurable to support SU-MIMO or MU-MIMO transmission toMU groups of two or more users/stations. The AFE and RF portion 528handle the upconversion on each of transmit paths and wirelesstransmission initiated in the baseband. The RF portion also handles thedownconversion of the signals received on the receive paths and passesthem for further processing to the baseband.

Transmission:

The transmit path/chain includes the following discrete and sharedcomponents. The WiFi medium access control (WMAC) component 530includes: hardware queues 532 for each downlink and uplink communicationstream; encryption and decryption circuits 534 for encrypting anddecrypting the downlink and uplink communication streams; medium accesscircuit 536 for making the clear channel assessment (CCA), and makingexponential random backoff and re-transmission decisions; and a packetprocessor circuit 538 for packet processing of the communicationstreams. The WMAC component has read access to a node table 539 whichlists each node/station on the WLAN, the station's capabilities, thecorresponding encryption key, and the priority associated with itscommunication traffic.

Each sounding or data packet for wireless transmission on the transmitpath components to one or more stations is framed in the framer 540.Next each stream is encoded and scrambled in the encoder and scrambler542 followed by interleaving and mapping in a corresponding one of theinterleaver mappers 544A-B. Next all transmissions are spatially mappedwith a spatial mapping matrix (SMM) 546 in the spatial mapper 548. Thespatially mapped streams from the spatial mapper are input to inversediscrete Fourier Transform (IDFT) components 550A-B for conversion fromthe frequency to the time domain and subsequent transmission in the AFTand RF stage.

Each IDFT is coupled to a corresponding one of the transmit path/chaincomponents in the AFT RF stage 528 for wireless transmission on anassociated one of MIMO antenna 559A-B. Specifically each IDFT couples toan associated one of the digital-to-analog converters (DAC) 552A-B forconverting the digital transmission to analog, upconverters 554A-B,coupled to a common voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) 566 forupconverting the transmission to the appropriate center frequency of theselected channel(s), filters 556A-B e.g. bandpass filters forcontrolling the bandwidth of the transmission, and power amplifiers558A-B for setting the transmit power level of the transmission on theMIMO antenna 559A-B.

Reception:

The receive path/chain includes the following discrete and sharedcomponents. Received communications on the WAP's array of MIMO antennaare subject to RF processing including downconversion in the AFE-RFstage 528. There are two receive paths each including the followingdiscrete and shared components: low noise amplifiers (LNA) 560A-B foramplifying the received signal under control of an analog gain control(AGC) for setting the amount by which the received signal is amplified,filters 564A-B for bandpass filtering the received signals,downconverters 568A-B coupled to the VCO 566 for downconverting thereceived signals, analog-to-digital converters (ADC) 570A-B fordigitizing the downconverted signals. The digital output from each ADCis passed to a corresponding one of the discrete Fourier transform (DFT)components 572A-B in the baseband portion 526 of the WiFi stage forconversion from the time to the frequency domain.

Receive processing in the baseband stage includes the following sharedand discrete components including: an equalizer 574 to mitigate channelimpairments which is coupled to the output of the DFTs 572A-B. Thereceived streams at the output of the equalizer are subject to demappingand deinterleaving in a corresponding number of thedemapper/deinterleavers 576A-B. Next the received stream(s) are decodedand descrambled in the decoder and descrambler component 578, followedby de-framing in the deframer 580. The received communication is thenpassed to the WMAC component 530 where it is decrypted with thedecryption circuit 534 and placed in the appropriate upstream hardwarequeue 532 for upload to the Internet 502.

The WAP also includes a client steering circuit 504. The client steeringcircuit couples to the aforesaid plurality of components which make upthe transmit and receive paths. The client steering circuit includes: aproximity circuit 506, a dwell time circuit 508, and a connectivitycircuit 510. The client steering circuit couples to non-volatile memoryor storage 520.

The proximity circuit 506 couples to the plurality of components whichmake up the transmit and receive path to determine the proximity of eachassociated and unassociated station. This may be accomplished bymonitoring the received signal strength indicator (RSSI) of eachstation. That determination may alternately be based on a report from astation, responsive to an IEEE 802.11k beacon report request from thesubject WAP. That determination may alternately be determinedcollaboratively with the neighboring WAP that a station has associatedor disassociated with the neighboring WAP. The determination mayalternately be made based on sniffing of packets between the station anda neighboring WAP as “sniffed” by the subject WAP. As shown in greaterdetail in FIG. 5B the proximity circuit may include an RSSI monitor506B, a station identifier 506C and a transition detector 506D. The RSSImonitor couples 506A to the AGC 562, and the station identifier 506Ccouples to the WMAC circuit 530 to monitor the RSSI for each identifiedstation and the transition detector 506D determines when a significanttransition, above a threshold level, occurs in the RSSI, e.g. either adecrease or an increase, and signals a proximity transition to the dwelltime and connectivity circuits.

The dwell time circuit 508 couples to the proximity circuit anddetermines the dwell time at any proximity level in between proximitytransitions for each station. As shown in greater detail in FIG. 5C thedwell time circuit includes an interval timer 508A, a time and dategenerator 508B, and a proximity record generator 508C. As each proximitytransition is detected the proximity record generator opens a new recordand starts an interval timer, and closed a prior record including thedwell time determined by the interval timer along with the date and timefrom the time and date circuit in that record. These sequential recordsof each stations proximity to the WAP are stored in the non-volatilestorage 520 by the proximity record generator and form historicalrecords for each stations proximity over time along with correspondingconnectivity options as determined by the connectivity circuit 510.

The connectivity circuit includes: a current connectivity circuit 512, aprediction circuit 514, an optional airtime circuit 516, and aconnectivity selector 518. The current connectivity circuit couples tothe plurality of components to determine the current connectivityoptions, e.g. band, channel, power, modulation and coding schema (MCS),number of streams, etc. for communicating with the station identified bythe proximity circuit.

The prediction circuit 514 as shown in greater detail in FIG. 5Dincludes a time and date generator 514A and an historical proximityrecord correlator 514B. The prediction circuit couples to the pluralityof components, and correlates the accumulated historical records for theidentified station which match the identified station's currentproximity to the WAP with remaining historical records for theidentified station to determine which of the remaining records exhibitsthe highest probability of predicting the identified station'ssubsequent proximity, and the predicted connectivity options associatedtherewith. The prediction circuit selects connectivity options for theplurality of components to establish a communication link with theidentified station utilizing a selected one of the predictedconnectivity options, rather than the current connectivity optionsdetermined by the current connectivity circuit, when the correspondingprobability identified therefore, exceeds a threshold level.

In an embodiment of the invention the prediction circuit further selectsconnectivity options for the plurality of components to establish acommunication link with the identified station utilizing a selected oneof the current connectivity options determined by the currentconnectivity circuit, rather than the predicted connectivity options,when the corresponding probability identified for the highestprobability one of the remaining records, falls below a threshold level.

In an embodiment of the invention the prediction circuit further selectsconnectivity options for the plurality of components to establish acommunication link with the identified station utilizing a selected oneof the current connectivity options determined by the currentconnectivity circuit, rather than the predicted connectivity options,when the corresponding dwell time identified for the highest probabilityone of the remaining records, falls below a threshold level.

In an embodiment of the invention the optional airtime circuit 516determines the airtime/traffic requirements of each station and updateseach stations corresponding proximity record therewith.

The connectivity selector couples to the prediction circuit 514 and thecurrent connectivity option circuit 512 and to the plurality ofcomponents on the transmit and receive path to establish eachcommunication link between the WAP and associated station using theappropriate connectivity options as determined by the prediction circuitor the current connectivity circuit.

In an embodiment of the invention the current connectivity circuitdetermines current connectivity options for communicating with thestation including at least one of: power, the selected communicationchannel, and a modulation and coding schema (MCS).

In an embodiment of the invention the client steering circuit is coupledto the remote computational device, e.g. server provided by the ISP orTelco 419. In an other embodiment of the invention, the WAP operatesautonomously without connection to any client steering “cloud”.

In an embodiment of the invention the non-volatile memory accumulates atleast a portion of the historical records of each station's proximity tothe WAP from a remote device coupled to neighboring WAPs.

FIG. 6A-C are hardware block diagrams of various devices configured toexecute client steering within or between neighboring WLANs inaccordance with various embodiments of the current invention.

FIG. 6A shows a processor 600 and memory element or storage module 520configured to execute client steering program code 524 associated with aclient steering circuit. The program code may be configured to run on asingle device such as a WAP or station, or cooperatively on one or morehost devices. The client steering component includes modules or circuitor combinations of both which perform the corresponding functionsidentified for the eponymous circuits shown and discussed above inconnection with FIGS. 5A-D.

FIG. 6B shows the WAP 402 configured as a host device servicing a WLAN612 which includes one or more associated wireless stations (not shown).The WAP supports discrete communications with a station or concurrentmultiple user multiple-input multiple-output (MU-MIMO) communicationswith multiple stations. The WAP in this embodiment of the invention isidentified as a 2×2 WAP supporting as many as 2 discrete communicationstreams “a”, “b” over two antennas 559A-B. The WAP includes: theprocessor 600 and storage 520; the bus 518, a WLAN stage 614 including abase band stage 526, a radio frequency (RF) stage 528 and MIMO antennas559A-B. The WAP RF stage supports one or more IEEE 802.11 wireless localarea network (WLAN) protocols. The WAP also includes a modem 630 forcoupling via copper or fiber to an Internet Service Provider (ISP) 419.The processor in addition to supporting the IEEE 802.11 WAPfunctionality also executes the program code which provides part or allof the client steering functionality as discussed above.

In the baseband stage 526 transmitted communications for aclient/user/station are encoded and scrambled in encoder scramblermodule 542 and de-multiplexed into two streams in demultiplexer 620.Each stream “a”, “b” is subject to interleaving and constellationmapping in an associated interleaver mapper 544 and passed to thespatial mapper 548. The spatial mapper uses a beamsteering matrix 622determined from a prior isotropic sounding of the link with a station(not shown) to steer subsequent communications thereto. The beamsteeringmatrix specifies specific phase and amplitude adjustments for thecommunications on each antenna designed to steering the outgoingcommunications toward the recipient station. There is a discretebeamsteering matrix for each of the OFDM tones or sub-channels. Thecombined streams “ab” are injected into each of the OFDM tones orsub-channels 624A-B of the inverse discrete Fourier Transform (IDFT)modules 550A-B respectively. Each IDFT module is coupled via associatedupconversion circuitry in the RF stage 528 to an associated one of thepair of antenna 559A-B.

In the RF Stage 528 received communications “ab” on each of the twoantenna 559A-B from the user/station (not shown) are downconverted andsupplied as input to the baseband stage 526. In the baseband stage thereceived communications are then transformed from the time to thefrequency domain in the discrete Fourier Transform (DFT) modules 572A-Bfrom which they are output as discrete orthogonal frequency divisionmultiplexed (OFDM) tones/sub-carriers/sub-channels 616A-B. All receivedstreams are then subject to equalization in equalizer 574. Receivedsteams “ab” are subject to de-interleaving and constellation demappingin associated deinterleaver demapper modules 576, followed bymultiplexing in multiplexer 618. The received data “ab” is decoded anddescrambled in decoder descrambler 578.

FIG. 6C shows a Telco or ISP 419 having a remote computational device,e.g. server 640 configured as a host device and coupled to the Internet502. The server includes the processor 600 and storage 520; a bus 642,an input/output (I/O) module 644 for interfacing with a user, a networkmodule 646 for coupling to a network, a main memory 648 for storing andexecuting program code 524 and data, a read only memory 650 for storingbootup program code. The processor in addition to supporting the serverfunctionality also executes the program code which may provide selectedportions of the client steering functionality as discussed above. In anembodiment of the invention the WAP 402 performs station monitoringidentification, and proximity determinations and station connectivity,and the server 640 performs the accumulating, correlating, andpredicting functions for download to the WAP or Station nodes. Inanother embodiment of the invention all client steering functionalityresides on the WAP or station or both.

FIG. 7 is a process flow diagram of processes associated with clientsteering in accordance with an embodiment of the current invention.Processes marked with a dashed border may be executed on either awireless access point (WAP), or on a remote computational device such asa “cloud” server communicatively coupled to one or more WAPs, orcollaboratively on both the WAP and the remote computational devicewithout departing from the scope of the Claimed invention.

In process 700 the proximity of each station, associated andunassociated to the subject WAP is monitored. In decision process 702 adetermination is made as to whether a proximity transition of one of thestations has taken place. That determination may be based on monitoringof a received signal strength indicator (RSSI) for each station. Thatdetermination may alternately be based on a report from a station,responsive to an IEEE 802.11k beacon report request from the subjectWAP. That determination may alternately be determined collaborativelywith the neighboring WAP that a station has associated or disassociatedwith the neighboring WAP. The determination may alternately be madebased on sniffing of packets between the station and a neighboring WAPas “sniffed” by the subject WAP. That inspection may alternately be madebased on deep packet inspection of packets that route from a repeaterthrough the WAP. If there is a proximity transition, then control passesto process 704 in which the station making the proximity transition withrespect to the subject WAP is identified. The station may be previouslyassociated with the subject WAP or un-associated with the subject WAPwithout departing from the scope of the claimed invention. Next indecision process 706 a determination is made as to whether there is anyprior proximity history for the station maintained by either or both theWAP and the remote computational device. If not then control passes toprocess 712 in which a proximity table and initial proximity record iscreated for the new station including: station ID, RSSI, Time of day andday of week, station capability, and current connectivity options suchas: the communication band(s) supported and the IEEE 802.11 standardssupported, as well as the number of antennas and streams supported inthe case of a multiple-input multiple-output WAP and station. Theproximity record may be stored on the subject WAP or passed to theremote computational device in the “cloud” for subsequent processing.Control then returns to process 700.

If alternately, in decision process 706 a determination is made thatthere is a prior proximity history for the identified station thencontrol is passed to decision process 708 for a determination of whetheror not there is an open proximity record for the identified station oneither the WAP or the Cloud. If there is an opened proximity record forthe identified station then control passes to process 714 in which theopen record, i.e. the current record for that station is updated withdwell time at the proximity prior to the transition, the connectivityselection e.g. channel band and channel, and modulation and codingschema (MCS), number of streams time of day, traffic, airtime usage,etc. and the record is then closed and saved with the accumulatinghistory of proximity records for the identified station on either theWAP or Cloud. Control is then passed to process 716.

If alternately, in decision process 708 a determination is made thatthere is not an opened proximity record, then in process 710 a newproximity record for the identified station is opened with the current,connectivity options, proximity, time of day and day of week, etc.Control is then passed to process 716.

In process 716 a correlation of the current connectivity state with thenext proximity state is made. In an embodiment of the invention thecorrelation relies on a determination from the identified station'sstored history of the proximity records. The accumulated historicalrecords for the identified station which match the identified station'scurrent proximity to the WAP are correlated with remaining historicalrecords for the identified station to determine which of the remainingrecords exhibits the highest probability of predicting the identifiedstation's subsequent proximity, and the predicted connectivity optionsassociated therewith. Control is then passed to decision process 718 inwhich the reliability of the prediction, e.g. the magnitude of theprobability corresponding therewith is evaluated. If the predictedprobability is below a threshold level, indicating a lack ofreliability, then control is passed to processes 720-722 in whichcurrent connectivity options are determined, the current proximityrecord is updated with those options, and a selected one of thoseoptions is used to configure the transmit and receive link with theidentified station is established using the current connectivityoptions. The current connectivity options, e.g. band, channel, power,MCS, number of streams, etc. are determined using conventionaltechniques. Control then returns to process 700.

If alternately, in decision process 718 a determination is made that thepredicted one of the remaining records is highly correlated, orreliable, then control passes to process 730. In process 730 the dwelltime at the predicted proximity state is determined from the predictedone of the remaining records. Next in decision process 732 adetermination is made as to whether the predicted dwell time is longenough to warrant the overhead associated with a change in connectivity,e.g. band 5 GHz to 2.4 GHz or MCS, or number of streams, etc. If it isnot, i.e. if the predicted dwell time at the predicted proximity fallsbelow a threshold level, e.g. is of short duration, then control passesto process 736. In process 736 the selected one of the currentconnectivity options is maintained, rather than transitioning to theconnectivity options corresponding with the predicted proximity state.The opened proximity record is updated with the current connectivityoptions. Control is then passed to process 740. If alternately, indecision process 732 a determination is made that the predicted dwelltime is long, e.g. above a threshold level, then control is passed toprocess 734. In process 734 a transition of the connectivity of thestation to options corresponding with the predicted proximity state iswarranted. This may include a change in communication band, channel,MCS, number of streams, or even a change in association from one WAP orrepeater to another. The open proximity record is then updated with theconnectivity options corresponding with the predicted proximity state inthe highest probability subsequent record identified in the correlationperformed in prior process 716. Control is then passed to process 740.

Then in process 740 follow up monitoring, a.k.a. backtrack, of theidentified station is made to see if its connectivity is optimal. Thismonitoring could be of an associated station as shown in FIG. 2 thatchanged/transitioned connectivity options from 2.4 GHz band to the 5 GHzband. This monitoring could be of a station no longer associated withthe subject WAP, having been disassociated therefrom in response to apredicted connectivity determination in process 734 for example. In thislatter case the backtracking would include determining using packetsniffing and deep packet inspection, or collaboratively with theneighboring WAP or repeater, whether or not the identified stationsuccessfully associated with the predicted WAP or repeater. Next, indecision process 742 a determination is made as to whether theconnectivity option from the corresponding one of processes 734 or 736has failed. If it has not failed, then control returns to process 700.If the connectivity options selected has failed then control passes toprocess 720. In an embodiment of the invention the decision of thebacktracking mechanism is used to update the corresponding proximityrecords.

Examples

Historical information: Historical conditions (performance, location, .. . of the client relative to each AP. Example: if client is close to adual band AP most of the time, connect it to 5 GHz. Example: if clientis at certain location most of the time, connect it to closest AP tothat location. Historical load of each AP. Example: Avoid an AP which isnot heavily loaded now but historically has been over loaded.Centralized information and decision making. All APs (radios) reportstatistics to centralized cloud engine. Example: Cloud engine knows thesignals strength of client to all Aps and the network load of each AP.Central engine will analyze all data and derive a metric for eachconnectivity choice. Example: AP1↔client metric is XYZ, AP2↔clientmetric is ABC. Central engine compares metrics and decides on theconnectivity point. Central engine will notify all Aps their requiredaction (admit or reject client). When a new client tries to associatecloud will calculate metric for various connectivity options and decidewhich point of connectivity (AP/radio) is the best for client to connectto. Then, it will notify the selected AP to accept this new client andit will notify other Aps to reject association request from thisparticular client. Above process can repeat periodically even if thereis no new client association request. Periodic iterations to check thatall clients are connected to an appropriate AP, for example if a clientmove or load of an AP changes, cloud may decide to move clients aroundto optimize connectivity. In one embodiment, metric is based on signalstrength of client to/from each AP (e.g. client connect to closest AP).In another embodiment, metric is based on matching client capabilitiesto AP capability (e.g. 11ac client connect to 5 GHz radio). In anotherembodiment, metric is based on AP load (e.g. client connect to the APwith lowest traffic or lowest number of clients). It can be current loador estimated load after client connection. In another embodiment, metricis based on environment around each AP (e.g. client connect to the APwith lowest interference). In another embodiment, metric is based on anycombination of above parameters (e.g. 11ac client connect to 5 GHz APonly if load is low.

The components and processes disclosed herein may be implemented in acombination of software, circuits, hardware, and firmware, coupled tothe WAP's existing transmit and receive path components, and withoutdeparting from the scope of the Claimed Invention.

The foregoing description of a preferred embodiment of the invention hasbeen presented for purposes of illustration and description. It is notintended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise formsdisclosed. Obviously, many modifications and variations will be apparentto practitioners skilled in this art. It is intended that the scope ofthe invention be defined by the following claims and their equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: accessing current proximitymetrics for a given wireless device within a proximity distance of awireless access point (WAP); analyzing the current proximity metrics inview of a historical proximity record to predict a probability forfuture proximity states based on a historical dwell time of thehistorical proximity records; and selecting a communication option forthe wireless device based on the historical dwell time and the futureproximity state with a highest probability for a criterion, thecommunication option including a beamsteering communication option. 2.The method of claim 1, selecting the communication option is based onthe future proximity state with the highest probability to maximize aduration association for the wireless device.
 3. The method of claim 1,selecting the communication option is based on the future proximitystate with the highest probability to maximize a particular dwell timefor the wireless device.
 4. The method of claim 1, selecting thecommunication option is based on the future proximity state with thehighest probability to maximize throughput for the wireless device. 5.The method of claim 1, selecting the communication option is based onthe future proximity state with the highest probability to reducechangeover.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein selecting thecommunication option for the wireless device includes using abeamsteering matrix to steer a subsequent communication to the wirelessdevice.
 7. The method of claim 6, wherein the beamsteering matrix isdetermined based on at least one sounding of the wireless device.
 8. Themethod of claim 6, wherein the beamsteering matrix specifies aparticular phase and amplitude for the subsequent communication on anantenna designed to steering the subsequent communications toward thewireless device.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein the beamsteeringcommunication option includes the WAP and the wireless devicecontributing the beamsteering communication option.
 10. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the criterion includes a potential dwell timeindicative of the wireless device being located in a single location foran amount of time that is above a threshold amount of time.
 11. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the criterion includes an actual dwell timeindicative of the wireless device being located in a single location ata same time of day over a period of days.
 12. The method of claim 1,wherein the historical proximity records pertains to the wireless deviceand a second wireless device.
 13. The method of claim 1, wherein theproximity metrics for the given wireless device are determined based ona received signal strength indicator (RSSI) for the wireless device,wherein the beamsteering communication option includes a steeringadjustment to a subsequent communication with the wireless device. 14.The method of claim 1, the communication option relating to at least oneof: a band, a channel, a power, a modulation and coding schema (MCS), ora number of streams.
 15. The method of claim 1 further comprisingupdating the historical proximity records in view of the currentproximity metrics for the wireless device.
 16. The method of claim 1further comprising: receiving additional proximity metrics for thewireless device; and updating the historical proximity records in viewof the additional proximity metrics of the wireless device.
 17. Themethod of claim 1 further comprising: providing the current proximitymetrics to a remote cloud; and receiving the historical proximityrecords from the remote cloud.
 18. A method comprising: accessing acurrent proximity metric for a wireless device within a connectivitydistance of a wireless access point (WAP); analyzing the currentproximity metrics in view of a historical proximity record to predict aprobability for a future proximity state based on a historical dwelltime of the historical proximity record; and selecting, from among agroup of communication options, a communication option for the wirelessdevice based on the historical dwell time and the future proximity statewith a highest probability for a criterion, the group of communicationoptions including a beamsteering communication option.
 19. The method ofclaim 18, wherein selecting, from among the group of communicationoptions, the communication option for the wireless device includes usinga beamsteering matrix to steer a subsequent communication to thewireless device.
 20. The method of claim 18, wherein the beamsteeringcommunication option includes the WAP and the wireless devicecontributing the beamsteering communication option.
 21. The method ofclaim 18, wherein selecting the communication option for the wirelessdevice includes refraining for selecting a second communication optionthat is associated with a second dwell time that is below a thresholddwell time value.